Episode #69: Fara Taraie, Japan Country Manager, ImpacTech

Since her childhood, Fara Taraie has been exposed to global cultures, being born in the middle east, spending middle to high school in Europe and South Korea, studying in Iran, and finally arriving in Japan. In total, Ms. Taraie has lived in six different countries. After graduating with a master’s degree in Architecture Engineering from Tokyo University, Ms. Faraie began working as an architect for a large Japanese corporation as she wanted to learn the ecosystem of big companies involved in large scale building projects. She soon became more interested in sustainable design and contributing to society, leading her to work with more startup companies. Ms. Taraie is currently the country manager for ImpacTech, an organization that supports startups to enter the Japanese market and create social, environmental, and economical impact. Ms. Taraie is also the founder of New Norm Design, architecture firm specializing in sustainable design.

Ms. Taraie believes in educating and developing her people to gain mutual trust and engagement. As ImpacTech is an NPO, she understands there is more than money the organization can offer, including the opportunity to create social impact and connect with other start-ups. In this way, she has found that her staff are able to form valuable connections which help further develop their careers or even start their own businesses. She also encourages them to learn new skills and grow in their field. Ms. Taraie believes her team will become more comfortable being held accountable and come up with innovative ideas. Additionally, she has observed: “If you educate someone to work with you, you will see the chances of them leaving is much lower.”

Ms. Taraie advises newcomers in Japan to learn Japanese and have a good understanding of the culture in order to work here. She also explains that sometimes, instead of changing a system, it is better to come up with a new system that works better.